Chicago White Sox

nice work Rikuu!

One of the weirdest takes I have ever seen. He had a 139 wRC+ coming into tonight with average framing and slightly above average CS rate. His blocking has sucked but he’s also a rookie with a good reputation defensively. Your expectations for a “backup catcher” are quite ludicrous.

He’s a backup catcher

JFC was that a terrible at bat

Alright Peters, do something here buddy

Burke battled tonight. Let’s get three runs here and give him a much deserved W.

Especially with Sandlin going tomorrow

This lineup really needs two more guys who can regularly impact the baseball. Teel should be one of them and hopefully Braden can be the other later this year. Meidroth batting 8th and Peters/Hill batting 9th actually is workable.

If his defense is this good, then he’s a legit strong side platoon option in CF. Hill is much more of ideal 5th OF given he can’t hit LHP but provides speed & defense.

A couple runs would sure be swell

in what sense?

Great news. If he can come back and close to his 2025 form, that would be a huge 2H addition to the rotation.

Yes, his brother Matt is on the Reds.

Pitching depth wise, have there been any updates on McDougal or Shane Smith? Saw someone mention Tanner was in the Rikuu to the majors reaction video, so maybe a promising sign? For the TJS guys, Mason Adams is the only guy actually pitching in games at the moment. Thorpe’s setback is a huge bummer as he should be pushing for a rotation spot as soon as he’s ramped up.

This is good news.

Exactly.

Crazy we passed on Mike Sirota to take tweener Nick McLain. Prove me wrong buddy.

They will certainly take him back for $25k

I’d put my money on Trevor Richards. My guess is they keep Fedde around a bit longer as a swingman until injured depth guys are back in action.

I pointed this out, but Kay has been fine in May and there is reason to believe he can at least be a capable back of the rotation starter moving forward. And that is huge as it means there is only one blatant hole in the rotation right now.

Acuna goes whenever Hays is back.

I agree in terms of Rikuu being a guy you can cut bait on and not lose sleep if you were to lose him. I do think they will play him a similar amount as they did Kelenic though.

Gonzalez has been legit bad prior to this year. Don’t think it’s all that crazy to want to him to succeed for more than two months before calling him. If he can maintain his production, he will force the issue. Rikuu is simply a placeholder until a better LH presents itself.

Feels like we’ve eventually looking at the following: In => Nishada, Hayes, & Pereira Out => Acuna, Grichuk, & Kelenic IMO, Acuna is the one guy who definitely has to go. He brings some defensive versatility and speed, but is literally unplayable with the bat. I’m not optimistic Nishada’s game will translate to the majors, but he will provide a professional at-bat, gives you another option in the infield (really just 2B), and can serve as a pinch-runner. Ideally he’s used a role player who can start at 2B (or LF) against tough righties allowing Chase more rest. Long-term this spot probably goes to Jacob Gonzalez (or Bergolla), but right now Nishada is an upgrade over Acuna. The highlighted swap above still leaves you with a future OF crunch. Antonacci is a stud and the one guy who you can feel good about (developing defense not withstanding). IMO, Benintendi and Peters are the only other “safe” guys right now. While I eagerly await the day Andrew is gone, his bat is still around league average or slightly better against RHP and that plays at DH for the time being (Gonzalez could eventually push here as well). Meanwhile, Peters’ glove makes him a legit strong side platoon in CF even if the bat leaves a lot to be desired. That leaves a slog of RH outfielders (Hayes, Pereira, Grichuck, & Hill) and Kelenic for three total spots. I think there is a non-zero chance any of these guys could be DFAed in the coming weeks, but there are two who I think are more likely to stick than the other three. IMO, Hayes is the safest here for two reasons. First, they gave him $6M and I doubt they cut bait on that money this early. Second, while not great RHP, historically he’s not a true platoon guy. The other guy who I think has some roster staying power is Periera. They traded for him, he’s young & controllable, can fill-in in CF, and has the physical tools to be a potential regular. If it weren’t for health, he’d be with Peters & Benintend. That leaves one spot for Grichuk, Kelenic, & Hill. As many here know, I’ve been highly skeptical of Kelenic since the day he was signed. However, now that he’s up, I’ve also been willing to give him a bit of run to see if anything clicks before a better option comes along. That being said, I think I’m ready to cut bait even though his Statcast page shows a lot of red. His K rate of 50% over his last 11 games shows a player trending the wrong way and the defense leaves a lot to be desired. If the Sox feel Hayes & Pereira can handle the bulk of RF (at least until Braden is ready), then cutting Kelenic is a legitimate option. As for Hill vs. Grichuk, the decision becomes a bit harder to make and comes down to their broader role. Both are platoon guys who should only face LHP and both have been highly productive in such a capacity this year. However, Hill provides more “role player” value with his defense (including ability to play CF) and speed than Grichuk does. He also seems to be a big part of the clubhouse and I think cutting bait on him now would be risky. Sucks as both guys have earned their paychecks, but we can’t carry four RH outfielders and the tie goes to Hill for the reasons stated above. Cutting Grichuk is a move we may regret if Hayes or Periera can’t stay healthy, but think it’s right move to make at this time.

@Y2Jimmy0 - What this mean bro?